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.357 vs .45 Colt in '73


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I have multiple sets of sixguns in .357 and .45 Colt. I am getting ready to order a full race '73 and am faced with a choice between these two calibers. Any insight from the fire regarding whether one caliber might be more suitable than the other, everything else being equal? I understand the differences in recoil but are there any other functional differences that should be considered?

 

Thank you in advance.

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.45 more expensive to reload, but you probably know that. My full race 73 had much blowback so keeping the extractor clean was very important. The gunk builds up underneath it and causes extraction issues over time. Jim Bowie showed me how to clean it properly and never had anymore issues.

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.45 is a fine smokeless round, but it's not rifle friendly for Black Powder. If you're shooting smokeless, than either one will do fine. Whatever you decide is your "go to" caliber.

Myself, I've relegated the .45 rifle to smokeless, and shoot BP in my 38/.357 and .38WCF '73s .

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While .38 will preclude you from shooting Classic Cowboy, it is cheaper to load for... and while the forty-five has bullets in the 160-180 range, you can get a much, much lighter pill to throw from a .38.

 

I can attest to the generous chambers of nearly all 45 Colt rifles. And with light cowboy loads, they tend to generate a lot of soot back into the action. This is reduced significantly if you keep your loads in the median range of most load charts. Crimp heavily and don't mind cleaning.

 

I have six rifles chambered in 45 Colt. And like 'em all. Other folks don't seem to like 'em as much.

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Have both but only shoot smokeless, one advantage of the 38/357 is that you can load 357 brass to 38 specs and help with any feed issues related to OAL that some rifles have..as mentioned before it is cheaper to shoot. I find both easy to reload unlike 44-40 so no difference there. If you are going to hunt the .45 is probably better than 38/357 for that depending on what you are hunting.

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I'm a .45 guy. I shoot for fun and I'm not a racer. I just started out with a .45 and never looked back. Everyone has their reasons for shooting what they do and each will vary. I enjoy loading for both .45 and .38.

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I prefer 45s, but both are fine rounds. However, if you go with 38, look for a mag sleeve. This is an insert in the magazine. A lot of the mag tubes were designed for 45, so with 38s they can cock back and forth, occasionally causing feeding issues. The sleeve helps ensure the rounds stay straight and feed properly

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I shoot .45 Colt in an 1866 and a '73 and I learned to carry one of those pressurized gun scrubber cans on my cart. Every so often me or a Pard will have a problem with those toggle actions gunking up, but a few squirts with the gun scrubber flushes things right out.

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I shoot a 73 in 38/357. It likes to feed better with 357 length so I load mild 38 powder charges and 125 rnfp in 357 cases. I like the reduced recoil to my self and my billfold.

Imis

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IF you don't mind possible blow back on your face and having to clean the rifle more thoroughly more often and shoot warmer loaded 200 grain bullets, you can go with the 45.

 

Remember that 45 rifles were not made in the old west. A large part is the old cartridges would not work at all. But the problem even now is that it takes more pressure to make the brass expand in the chamber to avoid blow back which may (depending on rifle and loads) come back a little in your face. Not dangerous bur some notice it a lot more than others. Plus your brass will be very dirty but more importantly the action (and under the extractor) gets build up so it will not extract. To help that most folks recommend going with a "warmer" load with at least a 200 grain bullet. Plus the chambers are normally cut on the wide side of the specs to make them easy to load etc. Thus making the problem worse on some guns, but still there on essentially all.

 

If you would rather have less maintenance and no blow back in your face and shoot anything from 105 grain to 160 grain bullets, go with the 357/38 Special.

 

Plus the overall set up of the 38 makes it easier to put in the shortest stroke lever allowed. Since the 45 has to do a little more "work" generally the 3rd generation works better than the shortest stroke. That matters more to some folks.

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.45 is a fine smokeless round, but it's not rifle friendly for Black Powder. If you're shooting smokeless, than either one will do fine. Whatever you decide is your "go to" caliber.

Myself, I've relegated the .45 rifle to smokeless, and shoot BP in my 38/.357 and .38WCF '73s .

What the Doc said........38 will be fine for smokeless and BP............The best choice is a 44/40 or 38WCF (38/40). Good for all categories and Wild Bunch.....no blowback and easy to keep clean ;) Good Luck :)

 

Jefro :ph34r: Relax-Enjoy

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As for the 45LC blowback issues with rifles, I wonder if the resizing die were backed out to only resize the case to just below the bullet would the blowback be reduced? You would have to use different headstamp cases for rifle and pistol; so, you could identify the rifle brass.

P.S. my experience is with an Uberti Lightning which has had at least 2K smokeless rounds through it. Other than barrel chamber & bolt face. I have only cleaned it thoroughly once with Remoil; which was a mistake because it removed the clearcoat on the outside of the receiver.

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What the Doc said........38 will be fine for smokeless and BP............The best choice is a 44/40 or 38WCF (38/40). Good for almost all categories and Wild Bunch.....no blowback and easy to keep clean ;) Good Luck :)

 

Jefro :ph34r: Relax-Enjoy

Fixed that for ya... can't use a '73 in B-Western.

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As for the 45LC blowback issues with rifles, I wonder if the resizing die were backed out to only resize the case to just below the bullet would the blowback be reduced? You would have to use different headstamp cases for rifle and pistol; so, you could identify the rifle brass.

P.S. my experience is with an Uberti Lightning which has had at least 2K smokeless rounds through it. Other than barrel chamber & bolt face. I have only cleaned it thoroughly once with Remoil; which was a mistake because it removed the clearcoat on the outside of the receiver.

I use a Redding Dual ring carbide sizing die for 45 LC, one ring will size the shell to chamber specs. and the other will size the shell to bullet specs. work great stopped all the 45LC issues with rifles and will help make the shells last longer by not over working the brass. V.D.

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.38s are obviously cheaper o shoot but if I were looking for a big bore rifle, I would choose a 44/40 hands down over a .45 colt.

+1 on that, and they are generally more accurate than the .45.

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Thanks to all who responded. If I was starting over again I might very well choose .44-40 for a variety of reasons but I've already got pistols so I'm sticking with these two calibers. The general feeling I'm picking up on is that .357 wins out both in the cost to feed and with the blowback issue. Since I am not overly fond of cleaning guns that leads me back to .357 as well. As Phiren Smoke suggested I'll make it my goal to end up with one of each but it sounds like maybe I should start with the .357.

 

Thanks for the insight.

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Thanks to all who responded. If I was starting over again I might very well choose .44-40 for a variety of reasons but I've already got pistols so I'm sticking with these two calibers. The general feeling I'm picking up on is that .357 wins out both in the cost to feed and with the blowback issue. Since I am not overly fond of cleaning guns that leads me back to .357 as well. As Phiren Smoke suggested I'll make it my goal to end up with one of each but it sounds like maybe I should start with the .357.

 

Thanks for the insight.

Another thing to consider is that they will likely cost the same new but the .357 will have more resale value due to more demand, if you ever went to sell it.

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